July 3: "Man Up" The Cost of Telling Boys How to NOT Feel
how society shapes the way children and young people see themselves, each other and the world they live in
Asking what it means to "be a man" is a question that many boys begin absorbing long before anyone asks it out loud.
Through conversations, films, social media, sport, friendships and everyday life, boys receive countless messages about how they're expected to behave. Some encourage confidence and resilience. Others quietly suggest that showing emotion is a weakness, that asking for help is something to be embarrassed about, or that being "tough" matters more than being true to themselves.
Today we explores how these expectations can shape boys' emotional wellbeing.
As parents, we can't protect our children from every message they encounter. But we can help them understand that strength comes from expressing emotions, not hiding them.
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🔔 coming up on The Work Edit:
Rats, carrots and sport!
coming up on Cultural Calendar Club
12 Months of live, inspiring, entertaining talks events, made financially accessible for all organisations
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International Self Care Day: Self‑Care is not negotiable.
Friday 24 July 2026
12:00 13:00
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In this 60‑minute webinar, we’ll dismantle the myth that self‑care is a luxury or an indulgence. Once again, we’ve been sold short-term, capitalist quick fixes—like scented candles and bubble baths—as if they could patch over much deeper, systemic problems.
Real self‑care is far less glamorous and far more powerful. It’s about boundaries. About rest. About tuning into our natural rhythms and creating the space to truly know ourselves.
We often frame self‑care as something we do for others—role‑modelling healthier behaviours, being better colleagues, parents, partners. And yes, that matters. But the deeper truth is this: we don’t need to earn rest or justify our wellbeing. We need to normalise self-love without attaching it to usefulness.
Self‑care is a political act. It's about reclaiming what we all deserve—without guilt—and refusing to burn out while trying to fix the very systems that make it so hard to care for ourselves in the first place. Because access to self-care isn’t equal, and recognising that is part of the work.